Spindle and Dagger

by J. Anderson Coats

This rich literary novel follows Elen, who must live a precarious lie in order to survive among the medieval Welsh warband that killed her family.

Wales, 1109. Three years ago, a warband raided Elen’s home. Her baby sister could not escape the flames. Her older sister fought back and almost killed the warband’s leader, Owain ap Cadwgan, before being killed herself. Despite Elen’s own sexual assault at the hands of the raiders, she saw a chance to live and took it. She healed Owain’s wound and spun a lie: Owain ap Cadwgan, son of the king of Powys, cannot be killed, not by blade nor blow nor poison. Owain ap Cadwgan has the protection of Saint Elen, as long as he keeps her namesake safe from harm and near him always.

For three years, Elen has had plenty of food, clothes to wear, and a bed to sleep in that she shares with the man who brought that warband to her door. Then Owain abducts Nest, the wife of a Norman lord, and her three children, triggering full-out war. As war rages, and her careful lies threaten to unravel, Elen begins to look to Nest and see a different life — if she can decide, once and for all, where her loyalties lie. J. Anderson Coats’s evocative prose immerses the reader in a dark but ultimately affirming tale of power and survival.

• ISBN10: 1536207772
• ISBN13: 9781536207774
• Publish Date: 10 March 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Candlewick Press
• Imprint: Candlewick
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781536207774

Reviews

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

I was pretty darn stoked to read a book set in 1109. I mean it even looks cool typed out, does it not? Plus, it's just not a time period I know a ton about and I love to learn cool stuff about old times! And it really is a neat book. Elen is in Wales in the early twelfth century, and obviously things are less on the comfy side and more on the brutal. Her whole family has been slain, and she's worked her way into the inner circle of their murderers.

Now, she travels around with Owain ap Cadwgan, leader of the warband and son of the king. Only, the king doesn't like her, most of the warband despises her, and she's not really sure what she wants. To survive, really, is the bottom line. Until Owain captures the innocent wife and children of an enemy, and she begins to see that there might be another way to live. 

The world is, predictably, brutal. Like no one thinks twice of this warband's existence, right? It's totally legit that they raid towns and kill randos. But at the same time, there seems to be some sort of lines one should not cross (like the killing of Owain's Second, which is what lead him to kidnap the family in the first place), which is incredibly interesting. And, this is based on a true story which is even more fun! 

Watching Elen have to make so many horrible choices while she remembers all too vividly the demise of her family is rough. But there is hope that she will find a way to live a better life, which is ultimately so worth reading about. Nest and her family are also phenomenal characters, and I was just as concerned (fine, maybe more concerned) for their lives and welfare as I was for Elen's. That, and roaming around twelfth century Wales is just fabulous! 

My biggest complaint here is one that is not the author's fault whatsoever, but something that did effect my enjoyment of the book, and I feel like it needs to be addressed, so here we go. I could barely read the thing. I set it aside hoping I'd just get myself a finished copy, but after the world shut down, that wasn't an option anymore so I did my best. At some point, I managed to figure out a lot of what the missing letters were, and tried to turn it into a game of sorts, deciphering a code. Look, I get that eARCs are going to be a little rough, but I need to be able to read the thing in order to give a legitimate review.

Bottom Line: Once I finally started to be able to decode all the missing letters, this was a really solid book with characters that I truly cared about. Plus, the time period and setting were so unique and intriguing!